DL Book Club: "Their Troublesome Crush"

Is this today's version of "Goodbye Columbus"?

Harold & Maude in 2024

I've never wanted to burn a book as much as I want to burn every copy of this one.

This sounds like all the jargon that was used by the people who lived in a polyamorous house in New York. It's exhausting.

Are diabetics being added to the alphabet soup?

My favorite trigger warning ever applies to this book:

"Reference to the lesbian sex wars."

?!?!? 😂

The plot sounds heavy on statements of boundaries. Are we sure Xan West isn't Xan Michiganwomyn, Nan's gender-rebellious child?

Seems like this would be for sale at Hags, NYC.

Oh my God, this is just insane. It probably takes longer to read through the endless exercise of box-ticking that is the synopsis, than it will take to read this ridiculous novel. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

By the way, I'm scandalized: no people of colour, amputees, cancer patients, vegans or lactose-intolerant, coeliac, stamp-collecting and asexual people have been forcibly fitted into the ridiculous plot! Sorry, his book is worse than Mein Kampf and I refuse to read it.

Xan West is a white supremacist and so are her Hitler-loving characters!

"Queer trans"...... what does this mean?

r10 They're just nonbinary. 'Queer' is a way for the enbies to say they're attracted to the same-sex without acknowledging they're actually that sex.

[quote]"Reference to the lesbian sex wars."

That's not funny, R6.

I teach sexuality studies courses at a liberal arts college, and even I had to look up what a "metamour" is just now.

When the musical version hits Broadway they can call it "Freaks!".

Gentlemyn's Agreement

Please tell me there's glossary at the beginning of this book.

The reviews at the link are something else: “A lovely, intimate portrait of kink, autism, and romance. For so long I have longed for representation like this in media, and this book such a delightful read. Plenty of queer and trans characters that just are. It’s so freaking adorable how they connect and process and make space for each other.”

“Every character in this story was someone I would happily have lunch with, which I can’t say for every romance novel I read! Warm and open-hearted, this gentle tale of metamours becoming friends and then romantically involved is definitely a feel-good read.”

If anyone reads this, please DO NOT post about any sex scenes.

TIA

Xan West is the nom de plume of Corey Alexander who is DEAD TO ME.

All the PC words in check, but “fat” remains. Interesting.

I wonder who receives the proceeds when someone buys a PDF of this self-published book for $2.99, now that the author has gone to join the great polycule in the sky.

I read a free sample on Libby! The book starts with a list of trigger warnings, and primers on BDSM and trans bodies. The first scene takes place in a cupcake shop but one of the characters is obese and diabetic so there is a lot of hand-wringing from the autistic narrator about if what they are doing/saying is ok and not crossing any boundaries.

Also by Xan West: "Eight Kinky Nights: An f/f Chanukah Romance." A sampling of Goodreads reviews:

[quote]wtf man

[quote]It's tragic, but not in the way a good tragedy is.

[quote]As a fat autistic disabled queer a few years into studying for conversion to Judaism I felt like so much of this book just spoke to me [...]

[quote]It was definitely interesting to read from the POV of someone on the autism spectrum. I felt like the BDSM related conversations were more educational and like I was reading from a textbook, rather than fiction. I also feel like I learned a lot about the Jewish community and traditions.

Oh, God, it IS on Libby — and of course it’s the Portland library.

Also by Xan West!: "Nine of Swords, Reversed":

[quote] Dev has been with xyr service submissive Noam for seven years and xe loves them very much. Dev and Noam have built a good life together in Noam’s family home in Oakland, where they both can practice their magecraft, celebrate the high holidays in comfort, support each other as their disabilities flare, and where Noam can spend Shabbos with their beloved family ghost.

[quote] But Dev’s got a problem: xe has been in so much arthritis pain recently that xe has not been able to shield properly. As an empath, no shielding means Dev cannot safely touch Noam. That has put a strain on their relationship, and it feels like Noam is pulling away from xym. To top it off, Dev has just had an upsetting dream-vision about xyrself and Noam that caused one of the biggest meltdowns xe has had in a while. It’s only with a timely tarot reading and the help of another genderfluid mage that Dev is able to unpack the situation. Can xe figure out how to address the issues in xyr relationship with Noam before everything falls apart?

BONUS!:

Content warnings for "Nine of Swords, Reversed"--because you know its target audience MUST have them, or they will be re-traumatized all over again!:

[quote] * Depicts an autistic meltdown.

[quote] * Depicts MCs dealing with chronic pain. Describes the internal experience of chronic pain and brain fog.

[quote] * Several references to an emotionally abusive ex, including some details of ableist abuse, gender policing and transmisogyny targeting a non-binary character.

[quote] *Both MCs are trauma survivors, and trauma is referenced as part of what an MC is dealing with.

[quote] *MC is grappling with internalized ableism and toxic masculinity and the ways they are intertwined with trauma. This is central to the story.

[quote] *MC’s younger brother died many years ago, his ghost is referenced multiple times in the story. References to malevolent ghosts.

[quote] *References to and a description of a disturbing dream-vision of partner’s death.

[quote] *Use of the terms “queer” and “faggot” as reclaimed slurs.

[quote] *Depicts consensual kink including D/s and in particular, service-based submission.

[quote] *References pain play, but does not depict it.

I was positive that that was an Onion article.

The best think about the book at r25 is the cover.

Dev has breasts and Shirley Temple ringlets, but also a hairy chest and five o'clock shadow.

Plus I love the ever-handy cane leaned up against the wall.

Nan Michiganwomyn never dies: she just takes slightly different names and forms.

I’m so confused.

Who are the lesbians at war with? And why?

Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke...

This is the kind of thing that inspires people to vote for Trump.

[quote]In this queer polyamorous m/f romance novella, two metamours realize they have crushes on each other while planning their shared partner’s birthday party together. Ernest, a Jewish autistic demiromantic queer fat trans man submissive, and Nora, a Jewish disabled queer fat femme cis woman switch

I stopped reading after that.

This is why they hate us.

I was going to say that, R33, but I am not one of them -- nor will I ever be.

I'm beginning to think that fat conspiracy theorist was right in a sense and due to chemicals or microplastics or some shit a significant number of my generation (millennial) and younger are just fucked in the head when it comes to this stuff.

[quote] Who are the lesbians at war with? And why?

Xan West was not a lesbian. They were a kinky dom disabled genderqueer.

Please make a note of it.

[quote] *Use of the terms “queer” and “faggot” as reclaimed slurs.

You don’t get to say the latter unless you are gay and have a penis.

Looks like BUNNIKA finally got a publishing deal!

It took a LOT of spoons, R38.

People have too much free time to navel gaze.

Nine of Swords, Reversed…

Is this a euphemism for: Go Fuck Yourself?

[quote]Ernest, a Jewish autistic demiromantic queer fat trans man submissive

Finally I feel SEEN in literature!

Oh good God no! Where is Gordon Merrick when you need him.........

This sounds exhausting.